Incendies - 2010What did you enjoy about the film?I really liked the way the movie was laid out and edited together. They kept having flash backs to Nawal’s life to give a better experience for the viewer and to help bring across the events in a smoother fashion. However, the problem with this was that more often than not I wasn’t sure if it was Nawal (the mother) or Jeanne (the daughter).Which means they had excellent casting, making sure they resembled each other so well, but it was a distraction trying to figure out who was who.What did the creative work illustrate about the culture and language?The movie was set in a non-specified Middle Eastern country and most of it was filmed in the Middle East so I don’t think it really displayed a lot of the culture of the French. However, it did show a lot about the language (I watched with subtitles and tried to match what I heard with what I read). I was able to pick out some phrases I knew and learn some that I didn’t. I learned that Francophones speak really quickly.What character, incident, or theme stood out for you? Why?An incident that really stood out for me was when Simon was telling Jeanne that their brother and father were the same people. This didn’t stand out because it was so shocking (although really it was quite shocking), it stood out because of the brilliant script writing. Simon kept repeating “one plus one… that makes two, right? You can not make one?” which is when it hits you that the father and son are one. So in fact, one plus one does equal one.How does this compare/contrast to your own culture?Canada is safe, accepting, and an abundance of cultures trying to live by each other in harmony. The country that this was based in was none of the above. People would get shot, shunned from their families, and killed for their religion. There are a lot of contrasting qualities between the cultures. However, there are of course similarities such as the people going to school and university along with places like street markets and busy cities.What does the creative work imply about the artist's thinking?This film is an adaptation from Wajdi Mouawad’s play, Indencies. Mouawad was born in Lebanon in 1968 and was forced by the civil war to flee his homeland when he was 8. He moved to France where he lived until he permanently immigrated to Montreal in 1983.

I think that Mouawad living through and having to flee his home country because of the civil war gave him a motive to write a story based in the civil war, depicting how people behaved and were treated. He included many events that happened during the war in the 70’s-80’s. For instance, there was the Sabra and Shatila massacre that took place as well as the bus attack that occurred in Beirut. Narwal is based on a Palestinian woman who tried to kill a military chief in the South of Lebanon. This woman spent 10 years of her life in a petite prison cell in the South of Lebanon.

Although there is historical value and controversy, I think Mouawad wrote this story to evoke empathy in the audience. It’s a story about family and the anger within it and society. This resonates throughout the story as do acts of controversy; Narwal’s boyfriend being killed, her giving up her baby, children of the orphanage being taken and used towards the war effort, Jeanne and Simon’s father being their brother, Narwal killing a political leader, the prison guard going to drown the babies… The audience is made to feel for the family and feel their emotions as they see what the characters see and experience what the characters experience.Ten new vocabulary words & pictures1. Twins - Jumeaux2. Excecutor(legal documents) - Excecuteur Testamentaire3. Engraved - Grave4. Negotiable - Negociable5. Cells - Cellules6. Guilty - Coupable7. Adventure - Aventure8. Humiliated - Humilie9. News Paper - Papier de Nouvelles10. Investigation - Enquete Creative Work AnalysisIncendies shows more about the culture of the Middle East than of French-Canadian. Since it is based during the Lebanese Civil War, we get to see a lot of what life was for the people living during that piece of history. Incendies shows the fighting between the Christian and the Muslim population. Before the war neared where Narwal was living at the time, she and those who were in the same city seemed to be relatively unaffected by it other than a bit of discrimination based on religion. It wasn’t until she had to leave when it started that her life became consumed in the war. Aside from the cultural differences based on war, the population of the Middle Eastern country that this was based in lived considerably poorer than Canadians. Even Canada’s poorest cities couldn’t match some of the lifestyles shown here. Also, it is important to consider the natural resources that they have to work with. A lot of the buildings that were shown weren’t made out of the same materials that ours are, they seemed to crumble at the touch. Before the war scenario was introduced, we saw a lot of what life was like for those living in the inner city by the university. Street markets were held, many people walked, and families were very close. Narwal was living with 3 generations of her family while she went to school It’s very different to how most people live in Canada.Lebanese City:Lebanese Market:Civil War:Buildings:Family Dinner:Additional information on imports/exports/trades:http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/lbn/REFERENCES: